There are four categories of drinks that you can enjoy during this phase. Remember: the idea is to put as little stress on your internal organs as possible, so you should minimize caffeinated drinks and try to avoid alcohol.
Lots of water
The first and most important thing that you should drink during your detox is lots of water. Water helps to flush toxins out of your system through urination and regular bowel movements, reduces bloating, and boosts your metabolism. Add a little lemon juice to your water if you wish. There’s a very simple trick to see if you are dehydrated-just check the color of your urine. If it’s clear or very light yellow, you’re OK. If the color is any darker, then you need to drink some clear liquids. One exception to this is if you have recently taken a multivitamin or B-complex vitamin, either of which can turn your urine bright yellow even if you’re fully hydrated.
Herbal Teas
There are a number of herbs that can be used in tea to reduce stress throughout your treatment and support efficient elimination. Good examples include dandelion tea, nettle leaf tea, and ginger tea. These are all great for supporting your liver and digestive system, and you can find them easily in most good supermarkets or health food stores. Just steep the herbs for a few minutes in boiling water and drink the tea as many times a day as you wish. Don’t be tempted to add any honey, sweeteners or milk.
Herbal Teas
There are a number of herbs that can be used in tea to reduce stress throughout your treatment and support efficient elimination. Good examples include dandelion tea, nettle leaf tea, and ginger tea. These are all great for supporting your liver and digestive system, and you can find them easily in most good supermarkets or health food stores. Just steep the herbs for a few minutes in boiling water and drink the tea as many times a day as you wish. Don’t be tempted to add any honey, sweeteners or milk.
Bone Broth
Last, but certainly not least, we have bone broth. This super-healthy liquid is not just hydrating, but also incredibly nutritious. It contains collagen to heal your intestinal lining, as well as other healing compounds like glutamine, glycine, and praline.
You will have to cut back your coffee and caffeinated teas during the Detox. On a side note, be aware that non-organic coffees and teas are among the crops most heavily sprayed with pesticides. But the main reason to reduce caffeinated drinks is that caffeine can stress your adrenal glands and HPA axis. If you have suffered from fungus for some time, you are probably suffering from adrenal fatigue too.
The two often go hand in hand, as a chronic fungus infection is a long term ‘stressor’ on the body and often contributes to the onset of adrenal fatigue. Cutting back on the caffeine will take away a stressor on your adrenals (caffeine artificially stimulates the adrenals to pump out more cortisol), giving your system a better chance to recover and heal. Additionally, this can have beneficial implications for your immune system.
There is one very important thing to note about caffeine. If you are currently a heavy coffee drinker, quitting ‘cold turkey’ will put even more stress on your adrenals. So you should start to gently reduce the amount of coffee that you are drinking well before you start the detox. Caffeinated tea is typically less of an issue than coffee, but if you habitually drink a lot then reducing that quickly can still stress the adrenals.
As well as black tea and coffee, drinks like decaf coffee and green tea (both of which contain small amounts of caffeine) are on the MAYBE list during this treatment plan. You don’t necessarily need to go 100% caffeine-free, but it would be a great idea to cut your caffeine levels as low as you can without triggering significant caffeine withdrawal symptoms.
Making The Feminine
Blend Drink
Here are the ingredients for your Feminine Blend drink. Using these quantities, you should be able to make enough to last you for a whole day. You can make a batch in the morning and then leave it in the fridge for the rest of the day, just remember to give it a quick stir before drinking.
- 3 pints (1.4 liters) of water, preferably reverse osmosis or at least charcoal cartridge filtered
- 2 tablespoons of unpasteurized Apple Cider Vinegar (with the ‘mother’)
- Juice of 1 lemon, preferably organic
- 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
The Ingredients In The Feminine Blend
Preparation of the Feminine Blend drink couldn’t be easier. Just stir all the ingredients together, drink and refrigerate. We would recommend drinking this drink through a straw. This is because lemon juice can, over long periods of time, contribute to the erosion of tooth enamel. You might only be drinking this for just a few days, but this prevents it from coming into direct contact with your teeth. It is good practice to always use a straw when consuming drinks containing lemon, lime, or apple cider vinegar.
If you’re wondering why each of these ingredients is included in the Detoxifier drink, in this section you will learn exactly why. Each ingredient has its own role, but the overall effect of this drink should be to promote toxin elimination and ensure healthy regular bowel movements. One of the most important things to keep in mind during the Detox phase is that you must not become constipated, as frequent and regular bowel movements are vitally important for toxin elimination.
The combination of a high-fiber diet and this drink should keep your intestines running smoothly. If for any reason you become constipated during this cleanse, taking a tablespoon of olive oil or aloe gel in the morning can help. Regular exercise is another useful therapy.
- Filtered or pure spring water
Drinking lots of water is a hugely important part of the cleansing process. Staying fully hydrated helps your liver and kidneys to expel toxins from your body, as well as having many other health benefits. Not all water is created equal though, which is why we suggest you use properly filtered water (preferably via reverse osmosis) or pure alkaline spring water, during the detox phase.
It is so important to have properly filtered water because, unfortunately, traditional tap water is often laden with impurities such as lead, iron, fluoride, and chlorine. These substances are irrefutably toxic to the body and can interfere with your ability to properly detox. Springwater or reverse osmosis water should be largely free from these noxious impurities.
The minerals found in verified spring water serve as important electrolytes that support better electrical charges between the intra- and extra-cellular environments of our cells, supporting better nutrient delivery and waste removal. In fact, the decline of this ‘concentration gradient’ and the electrical charge has been implicated in the involvement of many illnesses, including cancer. - Apple Cider Vinegar
Apple Cider Vinegar or ACV is a wonderful cleansing agent that breaks down mucus and encourages your lymphatic system to expel toxins. Make sure you buy the right kind of ACV. It should be unpasteurized, meaning that the nutrients have not been degraded by extreme heat, and it should come with the ‘raw mother’ materials. If you buy an organic brand you should be OK; if you’re not sure, look closely in the bottle and you should see small strands within the liquid. These strands are apple pectin, a type of fiber that will help with your bowel movements, and if you see it then the ACV is unpasteurized. If your ACV is completely clear and uniform color, it’s probably pasteurized and has lost much of its nutritional value.
Apple Cider Vinegar is a powerful detoxifying and purifying agent, it breaks down fatty, mucous and phlegm deposits within the body. By breaking down these substances it improves the health and function of the vital organs of the body, such as the kidneys, bladder, and liver - Lemon Juice
A glass of room-temperature water with a dash of lemon juice is a great way to start the day. Lemon juice has a number of beneficial effects on the way that your body processes toxins. Firstly, it is a gentle antimicrobial that can help to maintain a healthy balance in your gut flora. Secondly, it has a mild stimulatory effect on your liver, allowing it to process and expel more waste. Thirdly, it tends to alkalize the body tissues, which tend to be generally too acidic in cases of fungus or feminine issues. Lastly, lemon juice promotes peristalsis, the contractions that move waste through your gut and support healthy, regular bowel movements. - Cayenne Pepper
Cayenne helps to breaks up mucus in your small and large intestines, and also promotes healthy bowel movements. As we’ve mentioned multiple times, it is really important not to get constipated during the detox. Cayenne also contains a compound named capsaicin, which helps with your circulation. It supports improved platelet viscosity (which means they don’t clump and stick together) allowing for better blood flow and nutrient deliverance, amongst other things.
Note that some people may find the flavor of the cayenne pepper too strong, or irritating to the throat. If this applies to you, feel free to just leave it out. The benefits from the water, lemon juice, and ACV are still very significant.
An Alternative Detox Drink: The Fiber Bentonite Shake
If you don’t like the flavor of the Feminine Blend drink, or you get bad reactions to one of the ingredients, there is an alternative.
A popular drink among many cleansers is the fiber and bentonite shake. This is a detox drink designed to efficiently remove toxins from your gut. The fiber supplement gets your digestive system moving and scrapes clean the walls of your gut, while the super absorbent bentonite clay sucks up any toxins sitting in your intestines and carries them safely out of your body.
For the fiber supplement, there are several different options. Psyllium husk is very effective but can be quite harsh on the intestines for those who suffer from Leaky Gut Syndrome. Other good alternatives include acacia powder and pure apple fiber.
Regular bentonite clay doesn’t mix well with water, so try to buy it in liquid form. Any liquid bentonite clay will make the detox drink a lot easier to get down. Add it to some water and your fiber supplement, shake up the mixture for a few seconds, and then quickly drink it before it settles. Drink another extra-large glass of water immediately after. Both these ingredients are great for detox. The Bentonite clay soaks up toxins, and the fiber pushes waste matter out through your colon.
Recipe: Fiber/ Bentonite Shake
- 1 large cup of water
- 1 flat Tbsp. fiber supplement
- 1 flat Tbsp. liquid Bentonite Clay
This detox drink should be taken on an empty stomach, so don’t eat anything for an hour before and after you drink it. The easiest times are usually first thing in the morning, in the afternoon, and a couple of hours before bedtime. You can drink it up to 2-3 times each day.